On the subject of returning to a former club as manager, who could have predicted Lee Bowyer would do quite so well at Charlton Athletic? As a player, he always had a reputation as a bit of a rebel, something of a tearaway.
But the boy from Canning Town has properly grown up to show promising ability in charge of the Addicks.
Ably assisted by club legend Johnnie Jackson, Bowyer has unified the club after years of division under the unpopular ownership of Roland Duchatelet.
With talk of a takeover now swirling in the air, more than 36,000 Charlton fans march on Wembley on Sunday with hope in their hearts for the League One Play-Off Final against Sunderland.
Memories naturally come flooding back of the 1998 Division One Play-off Final, when Alan Curbishley’s side beat the Black Cats on penalties, following an iconic tussle.
Much more recently, Charlton fans will recall the opening day of this season when they didn’t have enough players to fill the bench at Sunderland.
Few were predicting a promotion push then. Even fewer kept faith when top scorer Karlan Grant left for Huddersfield in January.
But something very promising is building at The Valley and Bowyer deserves more credit than most for the welcome turnaround.
